Carton seal



Sept. 20, 1966 E. BOONE 3,273,783

CARTON SEAL Filed June 11, 1964 INVENTOR.

Edgar Boone ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,273,783 CARTON SEAL Edgar Boone, 15 Walt Whitman Road, Huntington Station, Long Island, N.Y. Filed June 11, 1964, Ser. No. 374,435 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-47) The present invention relates to a carton seal and more particularly to a carton seal which is adapted for use as a temporary closure for an opened carton.

Many articles of manufacture, in wide variety, are shipped to dealers packaged in cartons. These cartons may range from lightweight cardboard to heavy fibreboard and even wood. Prior to shipping the cartons are, of course, sealed with various devices, depending upon the weight of the packaged article. These include staples of all sizes, nails, gummed paper, etc. When the dealer wishes to show the article to a customer he must open at least one side of the carton. If a purchase is not made, however, the dealer would like to keep the carton sealed temporarily until it is opened for the next customer. Such temporary closing ensures keeping the article in good, clean condition in the interim. He can tie a cord or string around the box but this is time-consuming and would require re-doing each time the carton were opened. What is needed is a seal which is quickly applied and quickly removed for temporary closings and which can be reused indefinitely.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a carton seal which will meet the foregoing requirements.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a carton seal which is simple, compact, and inexpensive to manufacture.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the side wing of the carton seal of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the top wing of the seal;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the inside of the top wing of the seal;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the inside of the side wing of the seal;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the edge of the seal;

FIG. 6 is a partial view, in perspective, of the seal when applied to a carton and with a cord used in conjunction therewith;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the side wing of another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a side view of the seal of FIG. 7.

Referring to the drawing, the carton seal shown in FIGS. 1 through 6 comprises two wings which are integrally attached at approximate right angles to each other. The seal could be applied over any edge of a carton and with either wing uppermost but for the purposes of this description, the first of the wings will be referred to as a side wing 10 and the second will be referred to as a top wing 12 that define between them a right angle 13. The side wing 10 tapers away from the juncture 14 of the two wings to a tip 16. The tip is bent inwardly with respect to the angle 13 to form a prong 17 which is generally perpendicular to the plane of the wing 10.

The top wing 12 has two sides 18 which diverge from the juncture 14. Each side 18 terminates in a tip 20 bent inwardly with respect to the angle 13 to form prongs 21 and 22 which are also generally perpendicular to the plane of the wing 12. Connecting the tips 20 is a concave edge 23.

A carton is normally opened by removing or cutting 3,273,783 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 through the fastening means thereby freeing one side of the carton. In order to close such an opened carton, one wing of the seal would be secured to the freed side of the carton and the other wing secured to a second side of the carton which is adjacent and at right angles to the freed side. The seal is applied by puncturing both sides of the carton with the prongs at the tips of the wings. One common carton has a top side which is connected along one edge on a fold line to the rest of the carton. This type of carton is closed by folding down the top and fastening the edge of the top side opposite to the fold line to the side of the carton. To open the carton, the fastening means is removed and the top side is freed. To temporarily close this carton the carton seal would be applied by pressing the prong of either wing into the edge of the top side opposite the edge forming the fold line, and the prong of the other wing into the adjacent side which is at right angles to the top.

In the case of a carton, such as shown in FIG. 6, in which the top side has two half-sections 24 and 26 with a central opening 28, the carton may be temporarily sealed by pressing in one of the tips 20' of the wing 12 into each of the two half-sections 24 and 26 and then pressing in the tip 16 of the wing 10 into the side 30 of the carton.

The central part of the juncture 14 has an aperture 32 which extends over a portion of each wing 10 and 12. Two vertical shoulders 34 are created at each side of the aperture at the juncture 14. The aperture 32 has several functions. It makes the seal lighter in weight and makes the bending of the seal easier. It also forms a channel over which a cord may extend without danger of lateral displacement. Thus, if the dealer should want to tie a cord around the carton perhaps to use the cord as a handle by which to pick up the carton, he could pass the cord 36 around the package over the aperture 32 as shown in FIG. 6. If the cord 36 should tend to shift to either side, it would be stopped by the shoulder 34. The cord also assists in keeping the seal in place.

The seal may be made of a generally rigid sheet material which is strong enough to form a cutting edge as required in the operation of the prongs. There are various metals and alloys which would serve the purpose. The seal is formed from a generally triangular blank which may be cut from a sheet with very little waste of material. It is then bent to form the prongs and the angle 13 all of which may be carried out in a simple, inexpensive manner.

The carton seal may be made of light weight metal in which case it is suggested that the seal be formed with a rib 38 which runs parallel to the side edges of the side wing 40 and the top wing 42. This is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

It may be seen, then, that the present invention provides a carton seal which is particularly useful for temporarily closing opened cartons. The seal is ready for use and is instantly applied to a carton. Removing the seal is equally easy and entails merely the lifting of the device by prying with a finger or blade. Furthermore, the seal can be reused on the same or different cartons repeatedly. Importantly, too, little or no marring of the carton occurs with the application or removal of the seal. Indeed, if a cord is used in conjunction with the seal, the seal will prevent the cord from cutting into the sides of the carton.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. A seal for closing a carton having a bisected freed top side, said seal comprising two wings integrally attached at an approximate right angle juncture, the first of said wings terminating in a tip which is bent inwardly with respect to the angle to form a prong, the second of said wings having opposed angularly related ends each of which terminates in a tip which is bent inwardly with respect to the angle to form a prong whereby a carton may be releasably sealed by application of the seal over an edge with a tip of the second wing secured to each half of the freed top side and the first Wing secured to a second side of the carton at right angles to the freed side by puncturing said sides with the prongs of the seal, said seal having an aperture at the right angle juncture of said wings the material of said seal being thick enough for the aperture to create vertical shoulders at each side of said aperture thereby to form a channel over which a cord may extend without danger of lateral displacement. 2. A seal as in claim 1 in which each of said wings has a rib to strengthen the seal.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

R. PESHOCK, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SEAL FOR CLOSING A CARTON HAVING A BISECTED FREED TOP SIDE, SAID SEAL COMPRISING TWO WINGS INTEGRALLY ATTACHED AT AN APPROXIMATE RIGHT ANGLE JUNCTURE, THE FIRST OF SAID WINGS TERMINATING IN A TIP WHICH IS BENT INWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO THE ANGLE TO FORM A PRONG, THE SECOND OF SAID WINGS HAVING OPPOSED ANGULARLY RELATED ENDS EACH OF WHICH TERMINATES IN A TIP WHICH IS BENT INWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO THE ANGLE TO FORM A PRONG WHEREBY A CARTON MAY BE RELEASABLY SEALED BY APPLICATION OF THE SEAL OVER AN EDGE WITH A TIP OF THE SECOND WING SECURED TO EACH HALF OF THE FREED TOP SIDE AND THE FIRST WING SECURED TO A SECOND SIDE OF THE CARTON AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE FREED SIDE BY PUNCTURING SAID SIDES WITH THE PRONGS OF THE SEAL, SAID SEAL HAVING AN APERTURE AT THE RIGHT ANGLE JUNCTURE OF SAID WINGS THE MATERIAL OF SAID SEAL BEING THICK ENOUGH FOR THE APERTURE TO CREATE VERTICAL SHOULDERS AT EACH SIDE OF SAID APERTURE THEREBY TO FORM A CHANNEL OVER WHICH A CORD MAY EXTEND WITHOUT DANGER OF LATERAL DISPLACEMENT. 